St. Louis police responded to a homicide around 7:30 a.m. this morning at the Ford Elementary School at 1383 Clara in north city.

Ford Elementary School at 1383 Clara

​According to police, the victim -- a man in his 20s who has yet to be identified -- was shot multiple times. The murder occurred just minutes before the school opened for classes. And, yes, open it did today with students ushered into the building on the opposite side of the crime scene.

Even worse news for the kids is that while not canceling classes, the school has canceled recess today as police wrap up their forensics investigation and mop up the blood.

​A man who St. Louis hip-hop star Nelly referred to as his cousin (or, rather his "cuzzen") was killed Wednesday night outside a home in the 8000 block of Nola, near the intersection of N. Hanley and St. Charles Rock Road.

Michael Johnson, 36, was shot multiple times while leaving or entering the home in unincorporated St. Louis County. Police have no suspects or motives for the crime.

The teen is accused of the horrific murder last fall of her nine-year-old neighbor Elizabeth Olten. According to authorities, Bustamante dug a grave days before strangling and stabbing to death the girl because she "wanted to know what it was like to kill someone."

The question now is whether Bustamante will dress in her emo attire for trial or wear a more traditional outfit.

In today's Belleville News-Democrat Teague says that authorities never interviewed her or other family members about the teenager's emotional state and whether they thought he was suicidal. Moreover, Teague says some neighbors saw her son arguing Saturday night with three young men who allegedly forced him into a vehicle. More >>

Brian Reed, 28, was sitting in a car in the 3700 block of Minnesota in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday when he was gunned down by an unknown assailant.

3700 block of Minnesota

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Police arrived to the scene around 12:40 a.m. April 24 to discover Reed's body. A friend of victim's, also seated in the car, was uninjured. Reed lived in the nearby neighborhood of the 3100 block of Oregon.

​As we mentioned earlier today, St. Louis police have arrested Melvin Patton in the grisly, predawn murders of a brother and sister Julius and Keneka Elliot in their south St. Louis home yesterday.

St. Louis police report that Patton and victim Keneka Elliot had a four-year-old child together. Today Patton, 25, of the 3000 block of Texas in south city was charged with the following and is being held without bond: